Stiff clutch pedal that looses after driving....

[Dan Gray]

Over the past year my clutch pedal has gotten stiffer and stiffer on my 89 LX. So stiff that im sure its going to break the cable.....Now through the years i have replaced the stock clutch quadrant with an after market peice and aswell the cable. I also used a centerforce clutch that i had notices started to slip on me a couple months ago so i decided to replace it hoping that it would also be the stiff clutch pedal problem but to my disappointment the pedal is still stiff. So then i looked in to the cable as it has had many abusive days and replaced it but still i find a very stiff clutch pedal.

Now i have not looked at the pedal assemblies but i was wondering if anyone else has come across this same problem.....My pedal assemblies are the orignal ones in the vehicle and have over 150,000miles of hard driving on them. Im wondering if the bushings are worn out and causing the pedal to be stiff for several minutes. Once you drive the car for 15 minutes the clutch pedal goes back to normal until it sits for awhile. then the pedal is stiff again...

If anyone has run into this problem could you let me know what you have found before i start tearing into the pedal assemblies or the pressure plate again....

Thanks
Dan

 

[speedytang]

I ran into this last year and it was strange because I really thought it was the TOB. The pedal finally went to the floor and would not come up. I took the cable off at the bellhousing and guess what it slammed back. It was the cable. I don't understand why it did this when cold and when the header heated the cable it starting working but it did. When I took the cable off I could not get the cable out of the sleeve no matter how hard I pulled. Strange...So check that first.

 

[HISSIN50]

I agree that the cable is the place to start.

Good luck.

 

[Dan Gray]

Yes i thought the cable too, so i did replace it and its still the same....

 

[HISSIN50]

When the cable was brand new, was the issue any better (and now it degraded again)? I don't think so, but figured it best to ask.

The OEM pedal bushings are Delrin as I recall (awesomely durable - I run Delrin control arm bushings on a double wishbone front suspension and it's like glass). Anyhow, they should hold up quite well, but you could carefully hose them with something like white lithium grease. If it helps, you found an issue (normally, Delrin is self-lubricating. Insert joke here).

How did your input shaft bearing retainer look? I have been known to carefully hit mine with grease and it helps tough engagement (not really tough, but kind of a sticky pedal-uptake) when cold. I wouldn't do that with your new clutch though. And I assume the bearing retainer looked good anyhow or was swapped to a steel version.........

It sounds like you went through all possible causes and simply wanted info on the pedal bushings. We cant help ourselves and post extraneous crap.

Good luck.

 

[v8only]

the cable is likely misrouted. misrouting will cause a VERY stiff clutch pedal. check to be sure it's routed in the largest possible loop, stock routing you poke it under the motor mount on the dr side and back to the clutch fork.